She is the youngest Dutch sailor in the Delta Lloyd Regatta. And from all the female sailers she is also the youngest. Her name is Dapne van der Vaart and she is only 16 years old.
Daphne started sailing when she was seven. As a member of a sailing family this wasn’t quiet unexpected. On her 11th she qualified for the Dutch Optimist National team. At that age she already was in the top 16 of best sailors in Holland.
From then on it all went very quickly for Daphne. That same year, she went to Italy to race at the Optimist European Championships, a year later she participated in the European Championships in Slovenia.
After her first European Championships at the age of 15, (she was too old for the Optimist), she switched to the Laser 4.7 but also trained with the boat of the very first Youth Olympics ever, the Byte. She won the qualification and lined for the Youth Olympics in Singapore, where she won silver. Daphne is now racing in the Laser Radial at the Delta Lloyd Regatta.
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